Dead layer on silicon p–i–n diode charged-particle detectors

Semiconductor detectors in general have a dead layer at their surfaces that is either a result of natural or induced passivation, or is formed during the process of making a contact. Charged particles passing through this region produce ionization that is incompletely collected and recorded, which l...

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Published in:Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment, 2014-04, Vol.744, p.73-79
Main Authors: Wall, B.L., Amsbaugh, J.F., Beglarian, A., Bergmann, T., Bichsel, H.C., Bodine, L.I., Boyd, N.M., Burritt, T.H., Chaoui, Z., Corona, T.J., Doe, P.J., Enomoto, S., Harms, F., Harper, G.C., Howe, M.A., Martin, E.L., Parno, D.S., Peterson, D.A., Petzold, L., Renschler, P., Robertson, R.G.H., Schwarz, J., Steidl, M., Van Wechel, T.D., VanDevender, B.A., Wüstling, S., Wierman, K.J., Wilkerson, J.F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Charged particles
Contact
Detectors
Diodes
Ionization
Mathematical models
Semiconductors
Silicon
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Summary:Semiconductor detectors in general have a dead layer at their surfaces that is either a result of natural or induced passivation, or is formed during the process of making a contact. Charged particles passing through this region produce ionization that is incompletely collected and recorded, which leads to departures from the ideal in both energy deposition and resolution. The silicon p-i-n diode used in the KATRIN neutrino-mass experiment has such a dead layer. We have constructed a detailed Monte Carlo model for the passage of electrons from vacuum into a silicon detector, and compared the measured energy spectra to the predicted ones for a range of energies from 12 to 20 keV. The comparison provides experimental evidence that a substantial fraction of the ionization produced in the "dead" layer evidently escapes by diffusion, with 46% being collected in the depletion zone and the balance being neutralized at the contact or by bulk recombination. The most elementary model of a thinner dead layer from which no charge is collected is strongly disfavored.
ISSN:0168-9002
DOI:10.1016/j.nima.2013.12.048